Apparatus and method to help prevent medical errors

ABSTRACT

A device to help minimize medical recovery time and to help prevent medical errors in the form of a garment that is more comfortable for a patient to wear and that provides information, such as medical information, that saves the care giver time and that can help prevent medical errors. Such information can include allergies, medical conditions, blood type, identification of scheduled procedures, name, emergency contact numbers and other medical information. Privacy flaps can be provided to cover such information when it is not being used by the caregiver. The garment securely fastens in both the front and back to prevent accidental exposure, including accidental exposure through gaping material between fasteners. Additionally, pockets are provided at approximately hip level to allow the wearer to comfortably place their hands in their pockets if they want their hands to be warmer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to devices to help minimize medicalrecovery time, especially devices to help prevent medical errors at thepoint of service in hospitals, emergency rooms, rehabilitationfacilities, and/or nursing homes.

Medical errors are a source of added expense to a nations overall healthcare costs. Unfortunately, many instances of easily preventable medicalerrors have been a source of very disturbing news at various times overthe last several years. Reducing the number of medical errors shoulddecrease the number of preventable deaths, result in a better quality oflife for the patient, and decrease the cost of medical care.

Additionally, medical care can be somewhat rushed because of theemergency nature of some situations and staffing issues in others. It isbelieved that many hospitals are working with less than optimal nursestaffing, which may often result in short cuts being taken. Saving thenursing staff from having to waste additional time looking up medicalinformation by making it readily available at the point of care can saveprecious time and also help contribute to the prevention of medicalerrors. Likewise, saving time in emergency situations by having medicalinformation at the point of service can save the time normally needed totest for information, such as blood type, which both saves time andprevents medical errors. In some cases, the time savings alone may meanthe difference between life and death or aiding in creating a betteroutcome across a range of possible outcomes in a given situation.

Furthermore, patient recovery time can vary according to a number offactors. Some evidence suggests that the spirits of the patient may beone of those factors and many hospitals now allow family and loved onesto spend time with a patient beyond what were traditional visiting hoursin the hopes that it would aid in a patients recovery. As many peoplehave experienced, a patient's spirit may be reduced because of some ofthe factors within a hospital, including being uncomfortable. Oneunnecessary cause that may make some patients uncomfortable can be theknowledge of the possibility of embarrassment caused by a typicalhospital gown that does not provide adequate coverage or that causespeople to become exposed too easily by the gaping of material betweenfasteners.

Therefore, a need exists for an improved system and method to helpprevent medical errors by providing commonly needed medical informationspecific to the patient at the point where care is being provided tosuch patient. A need further exists for an improved system and method tohelp prevent medical errors by providing commonly needed medicalinformation that would save the care giver the time needed to look upsuch information. A further need exists for an improved system andmethod to help prevent medical errors by providing commonly neededmedical information. A further need exists for a patient gown thatprovides adequate coverage and that closes securely, while still beingeasily opened, but that does not lend itself to the patient becomingaccidentally exposed. A further need exists for a patient gown that iscomfortable for the patient to use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In one form, the system and method to help prevent medical errors byproviding commonly needed medical information provides such informationon the hospital garment.

An object of the disclosed invention is the provision of new andimproved system and method to help prevent medical errors by providingcommonly needed medical information that is provided at the point ofmedical service by being placed at strategic points on the hospitalgarment.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention are apparentfrom the following detailed description made with reference to theaccompanying drawings which form a part of the specification andwherein:

FIG. 1 is a front plan view of a form of the invention in the form of ahospital garment;

FIG. 2 is a partial cutaway of the front plan view of the hospitalgarment of FIG. 1 with the upper right hand pocket removed to show anopening for heart monitor cords or other things; and

FIG. 3 is a back plan view of the hospital garment of FIG. 1.

It should be noted that the terms patient garment, patient gown, andhospital gown mean the same thing as used throughout this application asthey are really one and the same thing. A hospital gown can be utilizedin places that are not hospitals, such as doctor's offices and nursinghomes.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, there is shown one form of a system to helpprevent medical errors in the form of hospital gown 10. In one form,hospital gown 10 can be constructed somewhat similarly to a standardhospital gown. Hospital gown 10 can include a body portion 11 made outof a suitable washable cloth material. Body portion 11 can terminate inneck opening 12 at the top, leg opening 14 at the bottom, and sleeves 20and 22 on opposite sides of body portion 11. Sleeves 20 and 22preferably include arm openings 16 and 18 at their ends opposite bodyportion 11. Hospital gown 10 can have a front 24 and a back 26.

In one form, hospital gown 10 has a body opening 28 in the back 26 thatcan be opened and closed to allow hospital gown 10 to be easily put onand removed. Hospital gown 10 can also have a body opening 30 in thefront 24 that can be opened and closed to allow hospital gown 10 to beeasily put on and removed. Such body opening 30 in front 24 can be inaddition to, or instead of, body opening 28 in the back 26. Bodyopenings 28 and 30 also provide the caregiver with any needed access toperform their duties such as listening to the wearer's heart or lungs.

One or more fasteners 32 or 34 can be provided to fasten body openings28 or 30 in the closed position. In one form, fasteners 32 or 34 can bea single string that is tied together. In another form, fasteners 32 or34 can be one or more snaps or buttons that can fasten the gown closed.In yet another form, fasteners 32 or 34 can include one or more hook andloop fastener devices, such as VELCRO, that can be used to close gown10. In the form depicted, a single hook and loop fastener 32 can be usedto form a re-sealable seam to securely fasten the front body opening 30,for example where the single hook and loop fastener 32 runs along thelength of gown 10 from a point proximate to neck opening 12 to an areaproximate to leg opening 14. This form of fastener 32 running all, ormost, of the length of gown 10 can aid the wearer's spirits by providingthem the confidence of knowing that their gown 10 provides adequatecoverage and is unlikely to cause an accidental exposure.

Also in the form depicted, multiple hook and loop fasteners 34 can beused to close gown 10. Here, the multiple hook and loop fasteners 34 canbe placed along the length of gown 10 from a point proximate to neckopening 12 to an area proximate to leg opening 14. In one form, criticalportions of gown 10 at opening 28 can be cut to overlap each other by anamount sufficient to prevent accidental exposure due to the gaping ofmaterial between adjacent fasteners 34. In one form, the overlap can befrom 4-12 inches of material that is overlapped.

Similar to more typical hospital gown, additional fasteners 36 and 38can be provided along the length of sleeves 20 and 22 between the neckopening 12 and arm openings 16 and 18 to close sleeves 16 and 18 whileallowing them to be opened when required. In a preferred form. fasteners36 and 38 can be hook and loop type fasteners. Such fasteners aretypically easier to close than the more typical snaps used in many suchgowns because they do not need to be as precisely aligned as the snapsrequire.

In one form, opening 40 is provided on front 24 of gown 10 in an areathat is preferably proximate to the heart of the wearer of gown 10. In apreferred form, opening 40 can be in the form of the depicted slit,which is preferably covered by the outer material 42 that forms chestpocket 50 in a somewhat typical manner. An additional piece of outermaterial 44 can also be sewn or otherwise securely attached to gown 10to form an additional chest pocket 52. In a preferred form, one or morepieces of outer material, such as 46 and 48, are securely sewn orotherwise attached to gown to form pockets, such as hip pockets 54 and56, that are closer to the wearer's hands and more easily reached by thewearer when their arms are down in a normal at rest position. Havingpockets much lower on the gown makes it more comfortable because it ismore convenient for the wearer to place and retrieve items and alsogives them a place to warm their hands if their hands feel a bit chilly.In one form, a second opening is provided on front 24 of gown 10 in anarea that is preferably covered by one of the pieces of outer material46 and 48 that forms hip pockets 54 and 56.

In a preferred form, gown 10 can be personalized with preselectedinformation concerning the intended wearer that can be very useful tothe care giver, especially information (including medical information)that can help prevent medical errors. Such information can include aperson's name 58, blood type 60, allergies or the absence of anyallergies 62, medical conditions or the lack of any medical conditions64, emergency contact information in case something happens to thepatient 66. Additional information could be provided concerningparticular procedures that are scheduled, such as identification of alimb to be amputated, identification of a specific artery to beun-blocked, or other information identifying the particulars of ascheduled surgery or other procedure.

In one form, such information can be provided on the front 24 of gown 10by permanently providing the information on gown 10. In one form, suchinformation can be embroidered on gown 10, such as on one or more of thepieces of material 42, 44, 46 and 48 that can form pockets 50, 52, 54,and 56. If the wearer does not own gown 10, pockets material 42, 44, 46and 48 can be re-moveably attached to the gown, such as by using a hookand look type fastener. However, if the wearer owns gown 10, suchmaterial forming pockets can be securely sewn on and then replaced ifthe information changes.

Some people may be concerned about keeping their information, includingmedical information, more private. In such instance, the information canremain covered until needed by a care giver. For example, a privacyscreen, in the form of additional material can be provided to cover upsuch information until needed. Such privacy screen 70 can be re-moveablysecured to gown 10 over information 58-64 using a hook and loop typefastener along the privacy flaps entire perimeter, or at portions alongsuch perimeter, so that they can be easily removed and/or replaced bythe caregiver. Alternatively, such privacy screen can be in the form ofa privacy flap 70, which can be securely sewn to gown 10, for example,along its top portion 72 closest to neck 12 such that gravity causes therest of the privacy flap to hang down and cover such medicalinformation. This allows the caregiver to easily move the privacy flap70 upward in order to view the information underneath. In a preferredform, privacy shield is made from a similar material as the rest of gown10 and makes the information underneath unreadable or difficult to readat a particular distance.

While gown 10 has been described above as being made from a clothmaterial, an alternative would be for patient gown 10 to be made out ofa disposable material similar to a paper towel, such as a disposablecellulose based material. Such gowns could be of particular use forproviding information, including medical information, for a givensurgery or other procedures. A marker could even be used to write on thepatient gown 10 to identify a particular limb that required amputationor another body part that surgery was going to be performed in order toprevent medical errors. For example, if the patient's right arm neededto be amputated the corresponding right arm 20 of gown 10 could containinformation identifying the right arm was to be amputated. Additionally,the left arm 22 of gown 10 might include information indentifying theright arm (or at least not the left arm) was to be amputated. In suchcase, right arm 20 might have written on it “Amputate this arm” and leftarm 22 might have written on it “NOT THIS ONE, THE OTHER ONE”.Alternatively, such information could be provided by the removal of theright arm 20 of gown 10 while keeping left arm 22 intact.

While the present invention has been illustrated and described hereinassembled to form a patient gown, it should be apparent from theforegoing that other clothing may be assembled containing similarmedical information, for example, pajamas, a nightgown, a bathrobe andother clothing.

What is claimed is:
 1. A garment comprising; a body portion made of asuitable material; a neck opening at the top of the body portion; a legopening at the bottom of the body portion; a first arm opening coupledto the body portion; and information coupled to the body portion,wherein such information concerns the intended wearer of the garment andis preselected with the intention to help prevent medical errors.
 2. Thegarment of claim 1, further comprising a privacy shield adapted totemporarily obscure the information whenever it is not needed by amedical professional.
 3. The garment of claim 2, further comprising theprivacy shield can be moved to allow the medical professional to easilyread the information.
 4. The garment of claim 3, wherein the garment hasa front and a back and the information is provided on the front of thegarment.
 5. The garment of claim 4, wherein the information ispermanently attached to the garment.
 6. The garment of claim 1, furthercomprising a front re-closeable body opening in the front of thegarment.
 7. The garment of claim 6, further comprising a backre-closeable body opening in the back of the garment.
 8. The garment ofclaim 6, wherein the front re-closeable body opening comprises are-sealable seem extending from a point proximate to the neck opening toa point proximate to the leg opening.
 9. The garment of claim 8, whereinthe re-sealable seam comprises a hook and loop fastener coupled to theportion of the body surrounding the body opening from a point proximateto the neck opening to a point proximate to the leg opening.
 10. Thegarment of claim 1, further comprising at least one pocket coupled tothe body of the garment and wherein the information is located on atleast one pocket.
 11. The garment of claim 10, wherein the informationcomprises at least one of: the intended wearer's blood type, theintended wearer's allergies, the intended wearer's lack of any knownallergies, the intended wearer's medical conditions, the intendedwearer's lack of any known medical conditions, and emergency contactinformation if something happens to the intended wearer.
 12. A method tohelp prevent medical errors comprising: providing a medical setting fora patient wearing the garment of claim 1; providing a medical care giverfor the patient; and the medical care giver reading the information. 13.The method to help prevent medical errors of claim 12, wherein theinformation comprises at least one of: the intended wearer's blood type,the intended wearer's allergies, the intended wearer's lack of any knownallergies, the intended wearer's medical conditions, the intendedwearer's lack of any known medical conditions, and emergency contactinformation if something happens to the intended wearer.
 14. A method tohelp minimize medical recovery time comprising: providing a medicalsetting for a patient wearing a garment, the garment including, but notbeing limited to, a body portion made of a suitable material; a neckopening at the top of the body portion; a leg opening at the bottom ofthe body portion; a first arm opening coupled to the body portion; and afront re-closeable body opening in the front of the garment extendingfrom a point proximate to the neck opening to a point proximate to theleg opening.
 15. The method to help minimize medical recovery time ofclaim 14, wherein the garment further includes, but is not limited to,information coupled to the body portion, wherein the informationconcerns the intended wearer of the garment and is preselected with theintention to help prevent medical errors.
 16. The method to helpminimize medical recovery time of claim 15, wherein the informationcomprises at least one of: the intended wearer's blood type, theintended wearer's allergies, the intended wearer's lack of any knownallergies, the intended wearer's medical conditions, the intendedwearer's lack of any known medical conditions, and emergency contactinformation if something happens to the intended wearer.